[A point about obstructive non-neoplastic pathology of the duodeno-biliary-pancreatic junction]

Various benign pathological conditions of Oddi's sphincter may give origin to clinical manifestations due to hindrances to biliary flow into the duodenum; the hypertonic dyskinesia, proper, odditis and fibrosclerotic dystrophies. Such forms develop very big problems from a diagnostic and therapeutical point of view, even if an adequate therapy permits in most cases to reach definite results. Therapy in inflammatory forms (odditis) must be first of all of medical type; only when these are changing into fibrosclerotic forms or are manifest in an acute way it is meet to proceed surgically on the sphincter. The action on the sphincter, either by means of endoscopy or surgery, is performed with caution in the forms of hypertonic dyskinesia (only when such forms are going on and have had a long duration, or even resistant to any pharmacological therapy) because of the high percentage of painful recurrences. The cutting of Oddi's sphincter is on the contrary the first therapeutical choice in the fibrosclerotic forms, with immediate success on the symptoms and the results in the long run are optimal.